New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s budget proposal to introduce system of ‘fixed-term employment’ in all sectors of the industry has already faced oppositions from trade unions.

Several trade unions, including RSS affiliated Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), are planning mass demonstrations starting on Friday as they feel this is a policy to easily fire workers and against laid out procedures and international labour norms.

“Government has introduced this policy without consulting workers’ unions, without any talks or consultations at all. Such a policy can only be passed through a tri-partite agreement between factory owners, unions and government. So we have decided to go on mass, nationwide protests from Friday,” said BMS general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay.

Vivek Monteiro, Secretary, Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), said that by having introduced such a policy, the government has played a gamble; that it should now “prepare for heavy resistance” which will pave way for “disruption of economy.”

Fixed term employment policy has been fiercely opposed by trade unions across the country because it allows industries to employ workers for short assignments and terminate their services once the projects are completed.

VS Giri, national secretary of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) said that having tasted failure on this front earlier, the present government wanted to re-introduce the amendments through a “back-door”. Nobody from the present government has spoken to the trade unions about amending the existing labour laws, he added.